4448. 'Shechem my son' means the truth derived from that good. This is clear from the representation of 'Shechem' as interior truth, dealt with in 4430, and so truth derived from the good meant by Hamor, 4447. Actually all the truth of the Church is derived from its good; such truth never arises from any other source. This truth which Shechem represents is called interior truth, being in essence nothing other than the good of charity. Indeed the Most Ancient Church, being celestial, was governed by the good of love to the Lord and as a consequence they had a perception of all truth; for the members of that Church were almost as angels. They also had communication with angels, that being the source of their perception. They never therefore reasoned about any truth of faith, but simply said 'Yes, that is the truth' because they had a perception of it from heaven. They did not even wish to make mention of faith, but of charity instead, see 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246. For this reason it is the good of charity that is meant at this point by interior truth. As regards the remnants of that Church existing with Hamor the Hivite and his son Shechem, see immediately above in 4447.

[2] With the Ancient Church, which was spiritual, it was different. This Church was not governed like the Most Ancient Church by love to the Lord but by charity towards the neighbour. Nor was it able to arrive at charity except through the truth of faith, of which, unlike the Most Ancient people, they did not have any perception and therefore began to make investigations into whether the truth was the truth. Regarding the difference between celestial people who had perception and spiritual ones who do not, see 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715, 3235, 3240, 3246, 3887.

2088. 'Behold I will bless him, I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him, more and more' means that they were to be furnished and endowed with goods of faith and with truths from that source, without limit. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed', 'being fruitful', and 'being multiplied'. 'Being blessed' means being endowed with all goods, as shown in Volume One, in 981, 1096, 1420, 1422. 'Being fruitful' means the goods of faith with which they were to be endowed, and 'being multiplied' the truths from that source, as also shown in Volume One, in 43, 55, 913, 983.

[2] Who exactly are celestial people and who spiritual would take too long to describe here. See where they have been described already, for example in 81, 597, 607, 765, 2069, 2078, and many times elsewhere. In general celestial people are those who have love to the Lord, and spiritual those who have charity towards the neighbour. For the distinction between having love to the Lord and having charity towards the neighbour, see above 2023. Celestial people are those whose affection for good stems from good, but spiritual people are those whose affection for good stems from truth. To begin with all people were celestial, because they were governed by love to the Lord, and from this they received perception by which they perceived what was good, not from truth but from the affection for good.

[3] But after this, when love to the Lord was no longer what it had been, spiritual people took their place, these being called spiritual when they were governed by love towards the neighbour, which is charity. But love towards the neighbour, or charity, was implanted by means of truth and in this way they received a conscience in accordance with which they acted, not from an affection for good but from an affection for truth. With them charity looks like the affection for good, but is in fact the affection for truth. Because it looks like the affection for good charity is still referred to as good. But that good is a good arising out of their faith. It is these who are meant by the Lord in John,

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. I am the good Shepherd; and I know My own and am known by My own. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd. John 10:9, 14, 16.

202. The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial man, was not only forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge, that is, to learn that which comprised faith from sensory evidence and from facts; it was not even allowed 'to touch that tree', that is, even to think from sensory evidence and from facts about anything that was a matter of faith. This was to prevent them slumping from celestial to spiritual life, and in this way going down further still. The life of celestial angels is also the same. Those of them who are more interiorly celestial do not even allow faith to be mentioned or anything whatever which has a spiritual origin. If others mention it they perceive love instead of faith, with a difference known only to themselves. Thus anything that is a matter of faith they derive from love and charity. Still less do they allow themselves to listen to anything of a rational nature concerning faith, and least of all to anything of a factual nature; for they possess from the Lord by way of love a perception of what good and truth are. From perception they know instantly whether something is so or not so. Consequently when any statement about faith is made their response is either That is so, or That is not so, for they are perceiving from the Lord. This is what the Lord's words mean in Matthew,

Let your words be, YES, YES, NO, NO; anything beyond this is from evil. ¹ Matthew 5:37.

The present verse in Genesis says that they were not allowed even to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge, for if they did touch it, they would be subject to evil, that is, they would consequently die. All the same, celestial angels, like others, discuss various matters among themselves, but they do so in celestial language that is formed by, and derived from, love, a language that is more indescribable than the language of spiritual angels.

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